Hi all, I just transcribed an article and found this last
paragraph interesting. Thought I would share <g>.
The entire article is at:
http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/wi/history/bluebook/1903/history/his...
Tina
"Why the "Badger" State?--In the early lead-mining days in
Southwestern Wisconsin, the miners from Southern Illinois and
farther south returned home every winter and came back to the
diggings in the spring, thus imitating the migrations of the
fish popularly called the "sucker," in the Rock, Illinois, and
other south-flowing rivers of the region. For this reason, the
south-winterers were jocosely called "Suckers," and Illinois
became known as "The Sucker State." On the other hand, lead-
miners from the Eastern States were unable to return home
every winter, and at first lived in rude dug-outs-burrowing
into the hillsides after the fashion of the badger (Taxidea
americana). These men were the first permanent settlers in the
mines north of the Illinois line; and thus Wisconsin, In later
days, became dubbed "The Badger State." Contrary to general
belief, the badger itself is not frequently found in
Wisconsin."
The Blue Book of the State of Wisconsin. Compiled and
Published Under the Direction of Halford Erickson,
Commissioner of Labor and Industrial Statistics, 1903. 17 -
20.